• Question: Have you ever been like... discourage about your study? I know that some of you are already scientist and I'm very impressed because I know that it's hard and we have to keep the motivation ! So, please, tell me your "secret" ;) bye Xx

    Asked by Jade to Sally, Rob, Matt, Marikka, Ceri on 11 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Sally Cutler

      Sally Cutler answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      Hi, yes you can get discouraged. One of the worst things is when you have been working really hard to find out something important and just as you are almost there, another group discover the answer and publish this before you so your work will no longer be very important because you were not first! Experiments do not alway work either which can be a pain. I will often run several together so I can go home at the end of the day with at least one having worked.

    • Photo: Ceri Dare

      Ceri Dare answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      Yes, of course! Some of the things I have to do at work are quite boring. For example, this week I am mostly going through patient records, to put the antibiotics they have taken and the infections they have got in a big database. When I have the database it will be exciting, but for this week I am amusing myself by listening to music while I work.

      But a few years ago I had been off work for several years, because I was very unwell with schizophrenia. I did not think I could ever work again, never mind being a scientist as I really wanted to. I was very miserable. But I got a lot of help, and got better, and went back to university to study some more, so I got this job, and now I am very happy and my life is much better.

    • Photo: Robert Hampson

      Robert Hampson answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      Of course we occasionally get discouraged!

      Many of the things in life that are worth doing are hard work, this often means you have to fail a lot before succeeding, you may have to put in extra hours or effort to get things done, you may make mistakes along the way, at times you may want to scream and tear your hair out!

      Albert Einstein is reported to have said “Genius is 1% talent and 99% hard work” but hard work isn’t easy and so everyone occaisionally gets discouraged. The key is getting back up and keep going!

    • Photo: Marikka Beecroft

      Marikka Beecroft answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      There were times where I thought I should just give it up, especially during and after A-levels and I just didn’t have the motivation to study anymore. The main reason I applied to university was because I loved learning about microbiology and when I went to do my degree I met so many different people who inspired me! I guess during that period of my life I just took inspiration from the people I knew and the people who loved me kept encouraging and supporting me. I had one lecturer who was a proper mad scientist who gave me so much enthusiasm and he eventually pushed me to do a PhD and having his endorsement gave me all the confidence and motivation I needed!

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